Uh, I will call this meeting of the public safety committee for Friday, Mar May 15, 2026 to order. If the clerk could please call the role >> present >> and council. >> Council Tony will be here shortly. Uh,
first item on the agenda, announcement of open meeting recordings. Is there no one recording the meeting? No one. We will wave the reading of minutes. Reading of pri minutes of prior meetings. There are none. Uh we will pass over budgets for the time being and
we will start with the applications which are first time on the agenda. We have item 11826 an application by EcoATM LLC for a license to deal in secondhand articles is 677 Tany Boulevard. >> Uh this is somebody we a company we've
dealt with for numerous years. Um, no issues or concerns with the application. Police Department standing. >> Any questions? Questions? Obtain a motion to recommend approval. Motion to
recommend approval. Motion by councelor To Munz. Second to recommend approval to the full council for the application. All in favor? >> I opposed. Motion carries. Uh and then we have our items from last
meeting uh that we did not cover. Item 11809 application for bowling alley licensed gardener candlein bowling LLC 123 Main Street. >> Again a renewal no issues or concerns from the police department. >> Same >> questions
>> questions. I understand motion. >> A motion to send the application to the council for full approval. Uh motion by councelor To Munz. I will second to recommend approval by the full council. All in favor?
>> I opposed. Motion carries. Item 11810, an application by GameStop number 3725 for a license to deal on secondhand articles at 376 Tony Boulevard. >> No issues or concerns from the police department. Sir >> and they are in good standing.
>> Questions? >> Questions? Entertain a motion. Motion to send the application to the full council for approval. >> Motion by councelor Tbo Munz. I have a second to recommend uh approval by the full council for the application. All in favor? >> I.
>> I. Motion carries. Item 11811, an application by House of Peace and Education Incorporated, DBA Hopeful Boutique for a license to deal on secondhand articles at 29 Pleasant Street. >> No issues or concerns, please. >> Thank you. >> You're in good standing.
>> Thank you. Questions? [clears throat] No questions. >> Motion motion to send the application to the full council for approval. >> Motion by councelor Tibo Munz. I have a second to recommend approval by full counsel for the application. All in
favor? >> I. >> I. Motion carries. Item 11812, an application by the Salvation Army for licensed deal and secondhand articles at 8 Union Square. >> Again, no issues or concerns, the police department. >> They're in good standing.
>> No questions. like a motion. >> Make a motion to send the application to the full council for approval. >> Motion by council Tomez to recommend the application for full approval. I will second. All in favor? >> I. >> I. Motion carries. Item 11820, an
application of gardener coins and cards incorporated for a license to deal and secondhand articles at 18 Parker Street. >> No issues or concerns from the police department. >> And you're in good standing. >> Thank you. >> Questions? questions. I'll entertain a motion.
>> Make a motion application of the full council for approval. >> Motion by councelor Tboz. I will second to recommend approval by the full council. All in favor? >> I. Motion carries. Circle back to our budget discussions.
Start with fire. >> Uh Mr. Chairman, do you want me to give a overview on the budget process like we've done at these before? >> Sure. Fine. Thank you. >> You're welcome. And uh thank you for letting me call in while I'm offsite at a meeting today. Uh the uh FY27 budget
that you have before you is the preliminary draft budget as it was submitted by the various department heads. Uh the actual FY20 uh 20, excuse me, FY27 budget submission is going to be submitted imminently uh to the council. The budget itself is balanced. just working on the book itself that
goes with it that explains all the information behind it. A couple different things uh just to uh note them. Even though the uh final submission hasn't been made yet, in the final submission, if there's any uh current collecting collective [clears throat] bargaining unit that's still in active negotiations without a
settle contract, uh by best practice, as we've done for years, uh those line items in the regular budget are uh level funded. And then what happens is once those contracts are completed and signed uh we go back and then reappropriate the money that's associated with those contracts into the budget itself uh to
uh account for it there uh because there's no uh official contract with that until that signature is signed on uh the contract. Uh the uh finance committee recommended looking at uh the various professional development and travel lines. So, we're working on a uniform system across the city to uh
make that a more uh consistent system across the professional development and travel line items as well in the finalized budget. Uh and then uh in the end, everything else was uh done in accordance with the uh non-union compensation ordinance that was passed last year or with the various uh current
active contracts that we have for the various uh collective bargaining units in the city. So, if there's any questions that come up uh throughout any uh the budget process that you have here while I'm on the phone, I'm happy to answer those as uh they come up. But uh that's just the general overview of the budget that uh is going to be submitted. >> Thank you, Mr. Mayor.
>> Chief, >> morning. Um so uh my budget submission again has the full narrative um which goes into detail um um with current operations
um items that I believe would benefit the department additional expenditures um as well as um grants and everything that we've received um and staffing um and accomplishments of current employees [clears throat]
um on the the spreadsheet side, the line item side of the budget. Um again, um there's historical data um provided and then as the mayor requested um we submitted a wish list um
which basically is if money was no object that we'd um what funding we would need to operate a department at the absolute optimum level. Um he also requested a uh 3% non-s salary reduction
um in the operating expenses side of the budget. And then the um basically the the last column the department request he asked for a more or less a level funded budget um which is what um we
would need to continue operations in FY27 as we did in FY26. Um, is there any specific questions? I don't I don't quite know what the best way to go through this is. Um,
>> um, yeah, I mean, usually when we go through these in the past, we've gone just line by line and council had questions to be able to point them out. Is there anything specifically you wish to highlight?
Um well uh on the in the fire budget um all the the top um five or six line items are um salaries and wages for the
various uh positions. Um, as the mayor said, uh, they are current, the union is currently in negotiations, so it does not, um, reflect any potential wage increases for this coming year.
Um, line item 51021, um, which is deputy chief, deputy fire chief salary and wages, which is a wish list item, which I have requested, um, you know, for the last several years in in the narrative. It was a
recommendation of the um 2022 ambulance and fire audit um by uh Perilo and Consultants. Um the next line on down um 51030 is overtime um which
I I requested $400,000 [clears throat] um on the the level funded budget. I I believe that's a a reasonable number to expect if there are
no extended vacancies or injuries or any other type of long-term leave. Um, basically I I think that's a a number that is to be expected to backfill sick
leave, personal leave. Um, other short-term leave um within the budget. Um you know the the historical data over the over FY23 to 25 you know that number is higher and fluctuates. Um
and a lot of that has been based on the number of vacancies that we had throughout the year um where we had to backfill those positions longterm to to maintain staffing. Um below that holiday pay, uh clothing
allowance, college credits, collateral jobs, um educational incentive, working out a grade, um sick leave incentive, physical fitness, um stipens, um those are
um all for the most part contractual um obligations for um for the firefighters. um the 51104 which is working out of grade
that's a um a fairly new account um that was created in FY26 um because we've seen an increase in um firefighters working in acting out of grade roles to
backfill um officers positions when they're out. Um, and we we were basically borrowing that money from other accounts to fill that in. And I think it's something um that needed to be specifically accounted for
and tracked. Um, so last year we made a uh an estimate I guess of $2,000 and um you can see in the year to date from back in January we've we've overshot
that by quite a bit. So I I would like I'm requesting that account to be um adjusted to to reflect a a it's a projection. It's a short-term projection. It could go up or down. Um
but it is something that we're is being is happening more often that we're using the privates to uh backfill officers positions on a shiftbyshift basis. Um um repairs and maintenance 52030.
Um that's always a tough account to nail down a number. Um that is the the only um repairs and maintenance account on the fire side which in includes all apparatus and vehicles and
the facility itself. Um we have a separate line item in the ambulance side which is specifically for ambulance vehicles. [clears throat] Um and that number uh it varies based on what breakdowns we
have that we cannot handle inhouse um for the year. When we have a major breakdown on a truck um and we have to send it to a a certified shop, it the numbers the labor rates keep going up, the parts keep going up. Um so it's
really hard to um to to keep within that you know the the 80 82 to 85,000 that it's been budgeted at. Um you know you can see in FY26 year to date back in January we'd already expended 72,000
um of the 82,000 budgeted um and I you know we we have exceeded that at this point. So, um bumping that up to um hopefully reflect um increased expenses is uh I
think it's necessary. Um information technology, that's our reporting software and um any um local equipment that we have in the fire station. um minor equipment. Um we've been we've
done very well on that account. Um the the city with the the new apparatus that's been purchased over the last few years. Um the mayor and the council have provided funding for new equipment. So um overall, we're in good shape equipment wise. We also have the the
state uh firefighter safety equipment grant which helps us to replace uh broken, damaged or outdated equipment um which we've been very successful with. Um the major expense out of that account
this year was um we disposed of all our PAS containing foam and replaced it with nonpast foam. Um, so there was a fairly major expense there, but in the interest of the environment and potential issues,
um, using that, um, I think that was a good expense. Um, um, energy and utilities. Um, it's again, it's tough to know what the the natural gas rates are going to to
be. Um, we did finish the roof project at the fire station, um, and repaired the inside ceiling, replaced insulation. So, [clears throat] this year it has been significantly less than the past couple years when we had issues with the with the ceiling.
>> Does diesel fall under that or is that part of the city budget? >> Uh, that's part of the the city budget. Yeah, diesel is not in part of this energy and utilities line item. Um, communications, that's uh, publications if we need any. Telecommunications is department cell
phones issued to the command staff and the um, apparatus. Um, 52170, professional development and travel. The mayor mentioned that in his um, information at the beginning. Um, I
am requesting that be moved up a little bit. Um the cost of sending people to classes is increasing. Um and a lot of it is is required for um firefighters to
maintain certifications in certain areas. Um and it it's it's just the cost uh has increased rather dramatically over the last couple years. um uh professional services 52190.
That's um that pays for the um independent testing companies that um test our aerial ladders and fire pumps to maintain their certification um annually. Um, office supplies. Um,
that's all our office equipment. That's, um, been fairly consistent. Um, fire prevention supplies. Uh, fire prevention and training supplies. That's, [snorts] uh, involves books. Um,
uh, magazines, other training props that we have that, um, we have to buy. uh 52240 vehicle supplies. That's um all um
basically goods for the apparatus and vehicles. It buys tires, it buys windshield wipers, um items like such as that. um 52995. That's physical f fitness equipment for
the station um for the the gym in the building. Um that is one item that um I recommended reducing um if we need to. [clears throat] Um we're in fairly good
shape there and we um can get by with not uh not needing to replace anything. um in the coming year if we have to. 55114 is firefighter protective clothing. Um that is the the turnout
gear for firefighters. Um which uh per the NFPA standards should be replaced every 10 years. Um and each firefighter has two sets of that. So when one set becomes
contaminated at a fire scene, they can immediately decontaminate that and put their their second set in service so they can continue working without exposure to um chemicals and carcinogens. [clears throat] Um and
so annually we do a a turnout gear inspection where we evaluate everybody's equipment. Anything that's damaged um needs to be replaced or repaired. Um and anything that is aging out of that 10-year time frame also needs to be
replaced. Um and this year um just recently we completed that inspected inspection and we have um several sets of gear that um are need to be replaced and have been
ordered. And um again we have this year um we have ordered PAS free gear which all previous generations of firefighting gear contain PAS which is again a carcinogen. So if we can eliminate that
um we want to um but of course there's an expense with that. It increases each set of gear by about $600. Um and uh and $30,000 is a a reasonable number um to keep up with what we need unless
there is a high incidence of damaged gear that we would need to re replace. Um but right now we're doing we're doing okay with [clears throat] um 55146 student awareness of fire education. um that is the local
um supplement to the the state safe grant. Um the state does [clears throat] recommend local funding in addition to the grant. Um the grant is is designed to be in support of local funding. Um so we're trying to support that as best
we can. Um you can still utilize the grant without local funding. Um but if the grant was to be reduced or um eliminated by the state, we would not be able to continue that program without funding. Um and then the last item there that was
requested on the wish list is the um facility needs study for the fire department. Um that is um cited in my budget narrative. Um it was recommended in the um Parolin Consultants audit from 2022 that that
building is approaching 50 years old and should really be evaluated. Um it it's a we're out growing it. Um it was built when there were three city fire stations and now we're down to one. um and just
starting to develop a long-term plan. Um whether it's renovating that facility, updating it, adding on to it, or building new um in the future, it's it's the feasibility study would be the first
step in that. Um that item is is on the capital planning list. Um, and I just wanted to include it in here to have be aware of um, the estimated number of a what that study would would cost.
Any questions on the fire side? Did I U, Mr. Chairman, if I could uh, jump in real quick to add to some of the stuff that the chief [clears throat] had said. >> Can you hear me? >> Yes. All right. Um the uh couple trends we've
seen that you know the chief mentioned overtime on the fire department side of things being uh something that we've traditionally been underfunded on uh and particularly with the staffing levels that we've seen and some turnover there too. So, my uh final budget uh that I do plan to submit does have funding for a new floater position that the chief and
I have talked about uh to make it so that there's one extra private level uh firefighter to um help out uh with coverage at the station to help reduce some of that overtime cost in the long term. Um I know we haven't gotten to the ambulance side of the budget yet, but uh
just because I'm going to have to jump off the meeting soon, I do want to address uh just something in the ambulance budget before the chief gets there. Uh, as the chief said, I whenever I ask for the budget, I do ask for three numbers. I ask for a department wish list, and that's just so we can see what uh we would need to be if the department
was running at the most efficient and effective level possible, so we can see where we need to go to. A uh potential 3% non- salary reduction uh that if any cuts need to be made, those are highlighted there. And then a more realistic budget uh for the department request. Uh you'll see in the ambulance
budget uh wish list there's uh funding for a EMS coordinator. Right now that's listed as a collateral job stipened position in the current union contract that we have uh with the firefighters union. Uh the chief has let me know on several occasions that this is something we do need to be working on uh and do
need to get to. Uh the reason why it's not included in my final budget and it's continued for another year as a collateral job stipen rather than a full-time position uh is really just looking at the revenue. Right now we have a revenue positive side of things with the ambulance. But with the ambulance contract coming up for renewal
uh pretty soon uh and that being uh something that could change the amount of revenue that we receive from the ambulance [clears throat] with the way the agreement is set up and everything in between. Uh it is a decision that I did have to make uh that we are going to you know at least for this year uh continue that as a collateral job siphon rather than a full-time position. But it
is something that uh you know the chief has you know told me on several occasions is something that we do need to be working toward. is something that we do need to be uh keeping [clears throat] in mind uh for the near future, but until that ambulance contract is finalized, I really wouldn't be comfortable uh relying on that type of revenue just yet until we get the
signed documents. So, that's something that when you get to that part of the uh ambulance budget, uh that uh was a change in the final budget that I do plan to submit. >> Mr. Mayor, just a quick question on that. Um, it's my understanding right now that we are covering that position
with two uh part-time uh or two in addition to their regular duties. Um, if we were to take the the the monies away from that that piece of it, and I'm I'm not speaking on behalf of the chief, would it make more sense to put this
into the the regular budget as it's it's a position that's needed? And I I understand that you want to wait for the contract, but currently uh not staffing it uh the the way that it's needed and and I don't mean to speak to if I'm
correct me if I'm wrong, you fine. Uh it just makes more sense to me to to have a position like this in the budget. Uh and I and I do apologize to everybody for being late here today. >> I I u council, I don't think you're wrong at all on that one. Um right now
it's currently paid as a collateral job. So, what that means now is just like other various duties that are assigned to the various uh current um positions, this one being one of the lieutenant positions, uh you'll see in the line item in the ambulance budget, it's around $40,000
uh right there. So, if we were to move that out, uh it'd be, you know, the additional um it's listed in the uh department request for the EMS coordinate position around $100,000. I don't know if we get the additional uh 60 grand out of the revenue for it. Is
it something that we do need to be building toward? Yes. Is it something that the current system may work now, but that doesn't mean it's not working the most effective manner? Also, yes. It's something I don't think uh anyone disagrees. It's something that's needed. Uh it's just how we build to it. Uh
rather than take the uh $60,000 lump in one single year without knowing what the revenue behind that is. Um, I I really do think it in if the contract ends up being negotiated the correct way and things work out, uh, certainly something that I'd be happy to, you know, maybe address in a supplemental budget like
we've done, uh, once new growth is certified and everything's settled, uh, in the September, October time frame. Uh, and it is something that again should be in the budget for sure. I think there's a lot of work that that position does uh, to make sure that all of our reporting requirements are met both with the CDMS office and Department
of Public Health requirements. Uh, and it's something that we do need to be building toward. >> Thank you. >> Um, yeah, I I I apologize. I thank the mayor for um pointing out that floated position. I I skimmed over it without
talking about that. um that um when I was working with the mayor formulating the budget, [clears throat] he um requested we put that in um and um it every we feel it's it's a position that will pay for itself um in
overtime savings. Um we did have that position for a short period of time um back in the 2015 era. Um it was a recommendation out of a Collins um Institute overtime [clears throat] study that was performed
at the fire department in 2013 2014. Um it Mayor Hawk did fund that position at the time. Um and it was successful. Um it was absorbed into the um ambulance staffing shortly after that to minimize
startup costs um for the the ambulance service. Um, and you know, now looking historically back at overtime expenditures over the last um, several years and the staffing um, maintaining staffing challenges that we've had, it
it's it's pretty clear that that position would pay for itself um, in in overtime savings. Um, so I I appreciate the mayor for um, supporting um, including that in the budget. Um, and it
will definitely help um, keep overtime costs down. Um, in addition to um, >> my biggest issue is I don't I don't feel as though it's a wish list. I think it's a position that's being filled right now. I think we are we're making payments towards this position and that
it should be uh, part of the budget. I understand the rationale on both sides. Um, and I know that you probably don't disagree with that, but >> the EMS coordinator's position or the group floater. Um, >> my apologies. >> Yeah. No, no. So, uh, the group floater. Um, yeah. Um, EMS coordinator's
position. I absolutely support it. Um, funding is challenging. Um, I I understand um, you know, the many aspects of the budget and I respect the process. Um, I've
made this request, you know, several years in a row in my budget narrative. Um, and I I hope we're working towards it sooner than later. Um, it is definitely needed. Um,
and I support it. I I hope we can find a way to fund it. >> I didn't mean to circle back to that. I do apologize for interrupting. Do you want to continue with ambulance or anything else? >> Sure. Uh yeah, we can go into the ambulance. Um
um the ambulance um budget is um basically the it funds all operations of the ambulance and the eight firefighters that are hired to staff it. Um so the first line item is the salaries and
wages for the eight firefighters that are assigned to the ambulance on a regular basis. Um again the the EMS coordinator um/training officer position. Um
we we discussed that um overtime. Uh again, I I made a request of $100,000 based on the last [clears throat] um the average of the last three fiscal years. Uh I believe that's a reasonable
number to expect. Um um holiday pay, clothing allowance, that's included in the base pay for most firefighters now. um college credits, that's all contractual
um uh payments. Uh 51102 collateral jobs. Again, that is the um amount that is funding the the the collateral jobs. There is two positions.
There's the EMS coordinator and the assistant EMS coordinator um who perform those duties on their on their days off um as a as a part-time additional part-time um
duty. Um you can see uh historically what we've spent over the last three fiscal years. Um and I'm requesting you know that to be increased. Um, so we can um at least
attempt to meet some of the goals um that we have um that would be accomplished if the position was full-time. Um, educational incentive. 51103 on the ambulance side is for any um
[clears throat] any firefighters that need ambulance specific training that they cannot get on duty. Most of it is provided on duty, but occasionally um they have to take it off duty. Um 51415
is the ambulance service stipen which is paid to firefighters for hours worked on the ambulance. Uh that's a contractual stipend 52030 repairs and maintenance. Um
again I I I requested $15,000 this year. Um, as you can see that the historical data we had FY23 and 24 were high. FY25 was
very low. Um, that was the year we put the new ambulance in service that was bought with ARPA funds. So, that truck saw the bulk of the workload that year and um, the reserve truck um, did not need any major repairs.
Um this year um again we've in FY 26 the year to date in January was just over 8,000 and it's uh it's significantly higher than that now. We've had multiple issues mainly with the reserve ambulance that we've had to address.
Um we're also in the process of acquiring that the used ambulance from Westminster which we should have um shortly um which will help to uh keep continuity of service if we have
mechanical issues with the ambulances. Um, again, parts and um waiting for parts and um repairs that take much longer than expected um have
put us in a position where we need to make sure we have suitable spare ambulances to maintain that continuity of service. And with that, there are repairs that come with the older trucks to keep them keep them going. [clears throat] Um 52037 ambulance
supplies and expenses. That's all the um disposable goods that are on the ambulance from band-aids to oxygen masks to um uh medications. information technology. [clears throat] That's our um ambulance reporting
software which we um use to complete all ambulance trip reports and submit to the state as required. 52041 license renewals fees and inspections. That's um basically all our
um ambulance licenses and required inspections that there are fees for. Um, and we've this year we did have to add um a couple more licenses to license the self garden
fire station as a storage location for the ambulances. Um, that did add a little bit more to that budget. Um, because with three ambulances, we don't have room to keep them all at fire
headquarters. Um and both the um the OEMs, Office of Emergency Medical Services and DPH, Department of Public Health require those any facility you keep an ambulance housed at to be licensed and inspected.
Um 5205 minor equipment. Um that's for um tools and equipment that is specifically going to be used on the ambulances which again with the new ambulance we did the city provided funding for to equip that.
So we didn't have to spend a lot out of that account over the past couple of years. Um but if something gets broken or damaged we would need to replace it. 52151 is telecommunications.
That is um cell phones on the ambulances as well as hotspots that um are required for the ambulance reporting software. Um they have to submit their reports. Um 52170 professional development and
travel that is um expenses related to uh EMT renewals for firefighters. Um there are fees for that and um any other classes that they must
travel to um for um reertification. 52190 professional services. Um that is um fees that are paid to the ambulance billing company um Coastal Medical Billing which we contract to handle all
our billing as well as um what we refer to as ALS splits with um paramedic ambulance providers, mainly Woods Ambulance um and sometimes our mutual aid partners um when we need a paramedic
to um assist on on board our ambulance um to treat a patient that needs advanced care. Um the revenue is collected by the transporting ambulance which would be the fire department and
then um the revenue is split 50/50 with the um with the ALS provider. So we um have to pay them monthly for the fees um that are incurred there. Um you can see
historically in FY23 [clears throat] and 24 that that line item was significantly higher. Um and in at the end of FY24 um
the response matrix was changed. um with Woods um to meet um operational needs. Um so they there was less transports that were handled by
Gardenifier that the Woods medics came on board with us. Um so we've been operating under that new response matrix for a couple years now. Um, it's still a little bit challenging to
nail down a final number of what we actually need in that line item because ambulance revenue, >> it's a variable. >> It's a variable and it lags behind the transports by many months sometimes. Um, so it it's it's just difficult to
to get an exact number without >> with little historical data at this point. Um 52230 office supplies. Um we've had min minimal expenditures out of that over the last few years. 52240 vehicle
supplies. Again that's tires for the ambulance, windshield wipers, um things like that. Um and that covers the ambulance side of it. Thank you. Questions from
>> I just curious what is how does the size of the fire department compare to other uh similarly sized communities in terms of staff? Um I I going back to the the the the um peril
and consultants um audit from 2022. He does compare 10 other fire departments in that. Um, you know, it is several years ago now. Um, but it's probably fairly accurate data still. Um,
there there's a lot of variables um about the size of fire departments and a lot of it is based on whether they run the ambulance service. um how the ambulance service is run, whether they only run BLS and have a
private contractor for ALS versus the fire department provides both. Um and the call line um gardener probably ran [clears throat]
lands right in the middle. um compared to other departments that run a similar service. Um Greenfield is a fairly um comparable department. Um
they they share ambulance duties with a private contractor and uh I believe they they are running six to seven firefighters per shift where we run eight. Um Southbridge is another very comparable department. Um
they they are the only ambulance provider in the city. They do ALS and and um staff multiple ambulances on a daily basis. And again, they're in the the 76 to
seven man range. Um both of those departments, I believe their call volume is is a little bit lower than gardener. Um if if if you go east of here um
I don't want to say it's a different world but you know there's there's >> it's a different world. [laughter] >> Yeah. Yeah. Um they they have you know different demographics. they have um smaller geographic areas with larger
populations. It's it's it's it's difficult to compare the um I know um Jack Pero who um did that audit when when he started reviewing our operations here um he said to me he said he said well like I always say he said you've
seen one fire department you've seen one fire department and everybody kind of does things differently um our goal is you know the the long-term goal is to meet NFPA standards um which is
it it's a standard and it's an expensive standard and um we try to meet it by combining crews. Um but when that ambulance is tied up on an ambulance call, we lose those two
firefighters that we >> you fall below the standard. >> Yeah. Yeah. Um and and again it's it's a challenge. Funding is a challenge. Um making it work um and keeping everybody
safe is a a big challenge. Um I think you know I mean my opinion is the guy in a fire department does a very good job with what we have um serving the city um
um on you know on the ambulance side but the current um response matrix that we have with our partnership with Woods Ambulance um we cover 99% of ambulance calls from ambulances within the city, whether
it be the the primary ones or woods backup ambulances. We rely very little on mutual aid for ambulance services, which there's a lot of communities out there that cannot say that today. Um, [clears throat] that comes with a cost, too. It's, you
know, it's expensive to do that, but it's it's best for the people of the city that they do not wait for ambulances. Um >> thank >> my other question has to do with Thank
you. Um uh the facilities um so it's two-part question. One is what are the top deferred maintenance um items that that you would want to see addressed? And then the second part is I know we
talked a few years ago over um the area where the um fire suits are stored are also exposed to the living quarters and that there's there's an eliminating spat firefighters. Is that something that's been updated or is that something that's in your wish list? >> What other items are on wish list in
terms of reconstruction if if that was it versus building a new building? >> Yeah. Um I I don't know whether renovation or a new building would be the best option. I don't know. Um we certainly have a good location where we are. Um we do own land
adjacent to it. Um whether it's enough to meet our goals, you know, that's for someone, you know, more educated than me. Um um you did site a lot of the the top priority needs. Um
um I I would say, you know, at the top of the priority list is probably space. Um you know, right now we're we're maintaining two buildings. You know, we continue to maintain the self-guidedness station. Um
which is deteriorating. Um it it we heat it. Um and it's it's pretty much full. Um there's there's five um vehicles or trailers
that are are stored inside down there. Um we also have, you know, there's there's three trailers at fire headquarters that are stored outside. Um plus all our our support vehicles. We have two pickup trucks and a an SUV that
are stored outside, which it it works, but it's it's not ideal. Um, you know, the ideal thing would be for all equipment to be garage so that when there's a snowstorm or something like that that we don't have to um delay
um response to get that equipment in running order or that we have to um send people to the cell station to retrieve equipment that we need. Um so that that's that's a top priority for
garage space. Um again the the recommendations um for current facilities they recommend decontamination zones for both EMS equipment um for communicable diseases
um and then also for firefighter turnout gear for um contamination um reduction um carcinogen reduction basically um which our current facility really doesn't have um the there's
locker areas that are small and insufficient. Um they are not big enough for members to store both of their sets of turnout gear. So we've had to resort to moving those to a storage area within the
living quarters, which is not recommended. Um we take precautions. We wash everything and we bag it so that it's as protected as we can, but it's still crossing a contamination zone line. Um,
and the lack of um facilities for for females. There's um there's one bathroom on the second floor of the building that contains the only shower facilities. Um the the first floor of the building
does have um you know a male a men's room and a women's bathroom. Um we we have the fire department has female employees and the private contractor ambulance service has female
employees um working there. We make it work. We, you know, we share the bathroom upstairs when a female employee needs it. The door there's it's a locking door. Um, but there's one one
bathroom on the second floor. Um, that's designed as a as a men's room with um, you know, multiple multiple shower bays and multiple um, toilets and and urinal. Um, it it
definitely lacks the um the privacy that should be provided for a facility that has male and female employees. Um, you know, lower down the priority list would be office space and living
space and, you know, um, other just general conditions for the building. Um, having the new roof on the building that was paid for by um, the insurance company has gone a long way to stabilize
it. Um, and along with that, the interior ceilings that were repaired and the insulation that was repaired, it's um, given the building a minor spruce up on the interior that [clears throat] um, is good. Um there there are definitely other maintenance issues that you know
um um between flooring and carpeting and um other stuff like that. It it it needs to be done. But um you know priorities in the repairs and maintenance budget every year push that
stuff back. It's um we we have to prioritize. >> Question related to just the the updates on the roof and the ceiling. uh is and the insulation is that have you seen a noticeable change in utility?
>> Uh yeah, I I don't have the exact numbers, but the heating bills were definitely lower this year. Yeah. >> Um it was incredibly challenging to heat the apparatus garage particularly. It it always is because the doors are going up and down regularly. But over the last
previous two years with um missing insulation, missing drywall, it was a chimney that was just pushing heat right out right out the roof. Um it it's definitely been I don't know if it's
been a 50% reduction in the heating cost of that portion of the building, but it's definitely it's definitely been a a big savings. >> Thank you. Awesome. Thank you very much. >> Thank you. >> Thank you, Chief. >> First,
yes, fire was first and we've already passed all >> Okay, I apologize. Chief Matthew, how are you today? >> Well, how are you, councel? >> Doing extremely well. you want to just uh I I'm not and I'm not going to speak
on behalf of the committee, but if you you don't have to go line by line if you don't want to if you just want it high level >> um you know where there's a a big deviation and so you can just >> Sure. Um I noticed in the um the hearing packet that um some of the
>> the I I put some explanations on the on the margins and they kind of get shifted. I don't know if that is the same way in yours. >> Okay. I actually printed out some other ones that in each one of you um that may be a little bit more in line with it maybe easier to follow because I think
it was like two or two days away. [clears throat] Um as previously said, there was three budgets requested um wish list if money was never an issue um and then 3% and
then the mayor's proposal level funding. Um the biggest issue I think if you the biggest number as you see if you go down is my request to add seven additional officers. Um we are currently operating uh budgeted at uh 33 officers. Um as I'
I've illustrated in my report my uh budget narrative um the FBI recommendations are 2.1 full-time officers per thousand residents. Um that should put us in the mid-40s for um police officers. Um the the highest
number we've ever seen in my tenure here uh was prior to the 2003 layoffs, we had 37 police officers. Uh after that, we've never really we've never recovered. Um that said, I will say with the 33, I I believe again um that what we do is is
uh is truly spectacular. But um again, that's my biggest request within this particular um u budget, but um that's a sizable ticket item. So, I know that that's and I realize budget constraints, but I would
like to see the city start to try to move towards those numbers. Um and again, that number only puts me at 40, not the mid-40s where we we really should be. >> Right. So, um, a couple other again I with the the the notes on the sides, the numbers
number increases are collective bargaining um issues and uh city obligations with step increases and things like that. They're pretty straightforward. Um, if if you're going down, you see anything that I need to touch on, I'm sure overtime is a is a
question. Um, I realize my the overtime is in previous years has has never really it's never really going to go down. I would say a lot of it ends up being again collective bargaining obligations, time off, things
like that, keeping static levels of shifts. Uh, those numbers are are really not I I don't necessarily see them going down. Um, because I I in a perfect world, there'd be nobody injured. there'd be nobody out sick. There'd be nobody. But we all know that that's not
realistic. And in my tenure here, we've never had that. Um I currently have an officer out on long-term injury. Uh I don't ant we don't even know what his return date is. >> So my wish list would have been zero as opposed to the 600,000. That that would mean that you're fully staffed and and
you can go over those. The truth of the matter is, counselor that um running a 247 365 operation u there's going to be vacancies and um in order to keep static staffing levels of a certain number to cover the 120 mi of road we have and you
know 21,000 plus residents and it it does require you know some flexibility and with with it but u I don't ever see overtime going away completely. Um but the the and again the numbers here too also represent some of the um uh we
we do receive reimbursements from a lot of the grants that we have. Shannon Shannon initiative we receive uh in the vicinity of $40,000. A lot of that is overtime reimbursement. The municipal road safety grant which is where we do our targeted um traffic enforcement that's all reimbursed through federal
grants. Um there there's a number uh the DEA uh we have a officer assigned to the the DEA Haida highintensity drug activity task force. We received $22,000 from them for overtime reimbursement. So a lot of the overtime numbers you see doesn't actually it is reimbursed in
other through other means. Um, again, I can most of the top items are collected by like clothing, holiday pay, um, college credits are are gone because now with the new matrix, um, they've been
removed completely from it's all in the, uh, pay matrix. Uh, working out of grade, um, we do see an increase in that. Again, uh, similar to what the fire fire chief had said, uh, we find sometimes we have police officers covering supervisor duties. um sergeant
or lieutenant positions. Uh that's just because I I have five sergeants and two lieutenants and sometimes with long-term injuries or sick time or or things like that. Um there's only a such a size there's only seven um seven supervisors to pull from. So sometimes we need to
augment that with patrol officers to cover those duties. Uh so that does that does seem to happen where I had a sergeant out long term last year. there was a lot of overtime vacancies that required us to to get a little creative with who we staff with that. So, um
[clears throat] repairs and maintenance, uh the building is is expensive to maintain at times. I'm currently >> right um just for instance, we're waiting till
July 1st to purchase a air chiller for the We have two air chillers in the building. We're waiting until July after July 1st to purchase done. It's been on the fritz for over a year now. So, um there's things we're pushing off the best we can to to make ends meet, but um
those are things that we're going to be looking at. Uh I uh minor equipment, same thing. Uh that's equipment within the building. uh if the the the custodian needs this or that or um things like that, that's
where that comes out of [clears throat] is there professional development and travel. This is something that I I'm pretty passionate about training um the people and developing our people. Uh we advocate our people to find areas of
interest that they they want to pursue and they seek out the training opportunity. We also do as well if we something comes we become aware of. But I I encourage all of our officers to um kind of go their own way in a sense, find what what interests them and um you
know seek that training out. And we very rarely say no to training opportunities for our officers and supervisors. The only time the answer no is is during obviously a budget freeze or um if it's going to cause staffing particular staffing issues that we can't really
handle. But other than that, we we we really try to >> love that approach, >> develop our people. Uh the other thing too is that we need to there's there's other things that come out of that as well. I'm anticipating a sergeant's vacancy next year with the retirement. Uh that will require um since we're out
of civil service now, we have we're currently developing uh promotional policies with uh in collaboration with the union unions, excuse me, and uh developing that policy. So, we're going to be conducting assessment centers. Uh we did we did assessment center the last
time and uh it was very wellreceived. Um the feedback from uh the officers who participated was it was a very fair process. Um it's a double blind process and uh they found it cuz again it it takes any um potential thoughts of
favoritism or anything like that out of the out of the equation because I have very little to do with it. Um so that's and that's that to give you an idea. The last time we did sergeant lieutenant, it was $6,500 per assessment, like per group of assessment. Um, that was in
2024, early 2024. I don't anticipate that price will go down in any way. So, um, any question could you does the anybody have any questions or anything on please? >> Steve, appreciate the, uh, report. Um
just a uh one of the actually in terms of uh retirement within the next 5 years are there how many officers or >> in the next five counselor um [clears throat] I anticipate uh in next year um there's a sergeant who reaches
his maximum retirement numbers um he hasn't given me formal notification yet um but I anticipate that that's a very strong likelihood that he will retire uh After that it would be my grouping which I was probably in the four to five year
range. That would be uh four officers including myself. Um but that's again we're not aging out. It's it's going to be dependent on when the officer chooses to retire as well. So but I anticipate
in the next 5 years somewhere half a dozen or so officers will retire. >> Thank you. U another question [clears throat] related mentioned the Shannon grant >> and it kind of just made me think about like what other um grants or um
uh programs uh the department is doing to prevent crime address root causes. >> Sure. I think >> Sure. No, I think uh I would say our community outreach is um is very proactive. We do seek out any any grant
uh alternative funding sources that we we can and we qualify for. Um the Shannon initiative as you know counselor is is in collaboration with the city of Fitchburg and um we do receive a portion of that that allows us to focus on uh
juvenile education truency gang initiatives things like that. Um, Lieutenant Chisnowski and and Officer Spain uh do a lot of community outreach obviously with uh regards to the youth and the community. Uh they're in the youth center. Uh we run the junior police academy every year that comes out
of those funds. Um you know, a lot of the there's there's they're in the schools constantly educating. Uh we're giving presentations to senior citizens, you know, fraud presentations, crime prevention, things like that. um we try to address be proactive with
our approach in addressing those areas. Um obviously our goal would be to eliminate crime completely but that's not real realistic but um we do try to see where this potential problems arising and address it. So if you had any questions regarding specific
programming um I think we're you know we try to be as transparent as possible posting what we can on social media and and things like that but um that's kind of our community outreach. >> Thank you. Uh and another question related is what percentage of the
department budget is uh dependent on grant funding. Are there any grants that are going away in the next one to three years? Well, um, so the only grant position potentially that we're worried about, um, is the dome is our current is
our, uh, domestic violence advocate. So that is a year-to-year grant. Um, and I will say that that's something that like the EMS coordinator previously, I I would say that that's a position that we really can't go without. Um, budget.
>> Sadly, you know, domestic violence is a major issue here in in this community. Um and I the work that our domestic violence advocate does in the community um is truly incredible. She of of all the um victims I believe I I said about
close to 75% return calls and seek um her assistance in in these matters. And I I think without that um I I just don't have the dedicated staff like police officers would to do those follow-ups and and
quite frankly um having somebody specially trained in those areas is really the approach. I mean it's it's similar to like a a clinician in the in the community. Um she's specially trained. She focuses in those areas. She's u it it's a better approach than
sending a uniform police officer truthfully. you spoke to that in the past. I do appreciate you following. Appreciate it. Thank you. >> Still on track for the full staffing team. >> I uh yeah um I have uh three currently
in the academy. Um that is that will actually put me just over and but with the anticipated retirement that would be the absorbing that one position. We're trying to be again proactive with our hiring. So, we're going a little bit
ahead in terms of that. Um, I have noticed um an uptick in candidates where we were struggling to get candidates to apply, qualified candidates to apply for positions. Um, I have noticed a a significant uptick when we do post now
for positions. We are receiving a lot of very qualified candidates um and again a lot of diverse backgrounds as well too. Um, again, the only other thing that I would maybe highlight in here is my the cruisers. Currently, I receive cruisers
through free cash appropriations. Um, I would really like to see this be a budget um item, a budgeted item every year. Um, my the fleet is is aging significantly. Uh, we're running
cruisers from 2018, 2019. Um, these are sometimes cars that run 24 hours a day, seven days a week. We do have a cycling system in place. My fleet manager does a a great job kind of juggling that, but again, you'll see my vehicle uh supplies
and and um maintenance costs are going to go up. Um I anticipate it's going to go up about 70% of this number, but that's as a direct result of keeping cars that are eight, nine model years old on the road. My apologies because I don't know the answer off top of my
head. We own these vehicles. Correct. >> Correct. >> Have we looked into the option of lease and this is the this is the best? >> We actually have council. Thank you um for bringing that up. Deputy Chief and then um city auditor John Richard
sat with a presentation regarding leasing vehicles as opposed to owning the vehicles. um at that time it was more beneficial for us to actually own the vehicles. We may need to revisit that because obviously vehicle costs um
as you can see the average cost of a cruiser is somewhere in the $80,000 range completely outfitted like a a patrol rated vehicle. And then that's just the one platform. If you were to go to a Tahoe platform,
you're talking about $90,000. So, um I don't anticipate I mean again these these things don't go down every year. Every year the percentages go up. So that was a ballpark and again on the on the my margin notation that was an
estimate and that's an estimate for two marked and one unmarked. We do have two different fleets um detectives um officers who have administrative duties things like that. So, but um that's kind of the only other area that
I would highlight. Um any questions regard I know I have several animal control, dispatch, uh emergency management. Um most of the adjustments are for um
collective bargaining or union particular items. I really haven't adjusted much in terms of the service budgetary items. So, um, but again, I don't want to beat a dead horse or anything. If if you
have any questions or concerns or need me to demonstrate anything >> any further questions. Thank you. >> Okay. >> Thank you. I I'm trying to respect everybody's time. So, I do appreciate it. Um so uh next on the budget
>> uh building here >> building so >> hello. >> Sorry to keep you waiting. >> I'm sorry. >> I said sorry to keep you waiting. >> Oh, no problem. All >> [clears throat] >> right.
So, how would you like me to begin here? >> Whatever you want to cover with with the committee here from a budget perspective. Um, >> okay. So, I um I don't know if you had a
chance to read uh anything that I wrote, but I I did spend a lot of time, so it was comprehensive for you all. And if you had any questions, um I I do think it speaks for for itself, but I'm happy
to answer questions or go over some of the the processes that I or how I did this. And um if >> you want to highlight any of the additions just for the listening and watching audience. >> Sure.
>> So that would be great. >> All right. So I followed the mayor's budget instructions. So the narrative includes the same scenario shown in the spreadsheet. The wish list recommended budget, the 3%
reduction in the and the mayor's request. The biggest or the big deviations from the normal operating budgets are mostly in the wish list column not in the merit request.
The first major deviation is is the discussion about separating building department from public building maintenance. And this is a long-term structural issue, not an FY27 uh 27 funding request.
The second major de deviation is the public building maintenance wish list salary number. This reflects the ideal staffing model with the maintenance ma manager additional maintenance capacity um and it is considered if this
um structure is watching over or maintaining the community center. um it is not what's being it's also not being requested as part of F27 FY27. The third major deviation is the deputy
inspector position. This is included as an ideal internal capacity uh option and it's more along the lines if maintenance [clears throat] remains inside of uh building.
The fourth major deviation is the business systems analyst or broader systems review. And in in my department um I've only worked ever worked in the building department and from what I see we're public facing and we are also
involved with a lot of other departments. So, it would be really beneficial to me if we could adopt or consider a business systems analyst, which my previous municipality did. Uh,
that person paid for themselves in the first year and saved a lot of money because there were different operational uh tools being used that did the same thing basically. So, it's just an overview. um and to perhaps cut down on
some of the uh workload by making it by streamlining it throughout departments. Um the fifth major deviation is the discussion of vehicle tablets and field technology modernization and that's
long-term planning language language and it would need to be evaluated separately through capital planning or future budget discussions. The actual FY27 mayor's request is much more limited in its primarily a stabilization budget
that maintains current services, staffing continuity, code enforcement obligations, public building maintenance operations, professional development and very basic operational needs. But if we go through the actual
[clears throat] um Excel sheet, I'll just highlight a couple of things. Um so abandoned building maintenance, I asked for
double what was current previously asked for, which is 3,000. And one one uh repair costs about 1,500 when we subbed it out. So, if we're planning on maintaining the limited uh facilities internal capacity, then we would need a
higher public uh abandoned building uh line item. And so, repairs and maintenance, I also asked for more here. And this is kind of included with um public building
maintenance, but we have to sub out a lot more right now. uh because of our staffing and uh the electrical inspector which also goes along with the repairs to poles and lights
and the budget that I'm asking for uh will be reflected by how much it is probably going to cost with the staffing that we have right now. professional development in travel. I
think that we need more training and I would really highly suggest that we uh make it part of our um hiring package so we can attract better candidates in the future if we
have any more turnover. But ideally, I would really like to um try to keep the same people by making it more appealing for them. And the more that we have for professional development and travel, the more we can
educate our residents because that is what we're doing every day in our um in our process. We're building permits. Um, I asked for more money in vehicle supplies and this is
all preventative because they they are aging vehicles. Um, building maintenance, custodian salary and wages. So, like I mentioned before, this is
uh considering maybe adding the community center as part of this uh budget for public building maintenance and it might be separate, but it is something that we need to consider. Is that why the wish list is at 400?
>> Yes. >> Got it. and zoning board of appeals. It's much higher and I would like to buy tablets for all of the members to reduce
on the monthly costs that we have for creating so much paper. Um and also I would like to use the online system and require that for the ZBA members for streamlining for residents as well
as saving on paper. So now that I went over it more broadly, does anyone have any highlights or questions? >> Yeah, I'm curious about the um Thank you and thank you for your presentation. um
the u vacant abandoned properties that the city um has to maintain. How many are there? And >> there are quite a few. Um I don't have an exact number because the records are not up to date right now, but right now
I'm working with our maintenance manager to go through a list and put eyes on everything and make sure they're all secure. Trying to keep it internal. Thank you. Um,
terms of uh permitting fees, are are permitting fees adequately covering inspection administrative costs? >> No, I have uh a proposal for each department or for plumbing, electrical, and for
building. I'm happy to bring that up anytime. more. Uh are there I mean in terms of the city in general and res are there any recurring problem properties consuming a disproportionate amount of staff time in
in any what a good question. So there are it's more I guess it's not a problem but the same residents or sometimes homeowners will come and take a lot of
our time with the same issues. Um and we we are just redirecting especially with civil matters that we cannot do anything about. >> Get those all the time. >> We all do don't we? >> We do.
Uh and then the last question is related does the department have sufficient legal uh and enforcement resources? Is it something that [clears throat] is an area that's uh in need of more support? >> We need more training.
>> Appreciate it. >> Yeah. >> Awesome. Thank you so much. Appreciate the detail. especially last but not least I think help >> how are you today >> good how are you going to do great
>> have Angela up here with me because she actually wrote the budget uh you know the timeline of my hire date um so she might be able to answer some questions that I can't so you get us both today >> thank you >> yeah you're welcome
All right. So, I mean, you have the narrative here. Um, so I don't know if you've looked it over. If you have any questions, I'd be happy to answer, but I'd like to just probably go through the budget. Um, and just kind of focus on the areas where we are asking for some funds that might look different. All
right. Great. >> So, we can start at in the health account. Um, the top is just salaries, wages. Skip down to the first one of any notable difference would be professional
development and travel. Um, we're not asking for a huge amount, but there is a new like, you know, safe 2.0 workplace standard um through Massachusetts. They really want everyone in the health department to be fully trained and certified. So, we definitely need as much as we can get there, especially,
you know, we have myself and two other people that would have to keep to date with these trainings. We have septic trainings, title five, food, housing, things like that. So, we definitely need to not decrease that. Um, next we have the professional services. Um, we
definitely beef that up and it's kind of, you know, in line with what you were talking um with the building commissioner about. We have a lot of work that we also do on vacant and abandoned buildings. Um, we'll step in and we'll mow or we'll do like nuisance like property maintenance. Um, so it's
just nice to have some padding in there because we're not really sure what we're going to get and we do, you know, try to work closely with the building department on those. Um, so we deal a lot with the outside um, issues that may arise. So I have a little additional
money there. Uh, let's see. Skip down to solid waste. Um, repairs and maintenance. So this is an ask we have this year. Um, the current scale house we have at the transfer station is rodent infested and decomposing from the
inside out. Um, that was an office before for one of our staff members. It's not usable at this point. The other shed that they use down at the transfer station, that's where the attendant and the supervisor will sit, you know, all year round, summer, winter. Um, it's a shed and it's insulated with some
fiberglass. The heating bill was absolutely outrageous many months this year. Um, because it's just it's a shed. Um, so we're looking to maybe upgrade the facilities for them down there. Um, Angela had priced out some different options, like some container type office situations. What we've kind of landed on
is about $50,000 for what we would like to do down there to replace the two dilapitated structures with one nice one that would give them a little more um comfort, if you will, throughout the year. And we we looked at, you know, doing something with bathrooms and and
whatnot. It's very very expensive. So, this is kind of like a, you know, this is a compromise here. We'll still keep our good old porta potty there for them. Um, we're actually looking into getting a handwash station um through some grant money. So, this would just be a nice um middle of the road option, I think, if a medium
>> Yeah. purchase a trailer. So, that's why you see that um large increase in that line item. >> Um again, with the professional development and travel under the solid waste, we also have, you know, a transportation supervisor who needs to keep up to date with training and whatnot. So, we crease that a little bit
as well. Um, and then we can skip right to the bottom of our solid waist. Um, so if you look at the last four lines, um, 52361, 52362, 55126, and 55361,
um, you will see if you kind of look at what we're asking for versus what we asked for last year, the numbers look pretty different. Um that's just because the previous director was kind of paying things out of places that really don't we don't think they align like where we want to go um makes more sense to us. So
we're just kind of taking those the ultimate number is not changing um in our solid waste like eel Harvey budget but we're just kind of restructuring in some different lines. So if you have any questions about that Angela's got it. [laughter] >> Um and then this is the biggest ask for
us is our landfill closure expense account. Um I know I think you know when I wasn't here I think that my department had to ask for money to do this massive pump repair that we have down at the the um cap landfill which we're still like
working on currently. You know we're getting updates every morning. Lots of unforeseen things happening. We're probably going to have to do a change order, get a little bit of more money. You know it's been it's been quite a project. Quite a project. Um so that was last year. So that we do have an erosion
issue at the landfill that has been ongoing. That was supposed to be addressed last year. However, the pump situation was more more dangerous, more imminent risk to public health. So we had to address that first. Um so the money that we kind of wanted to put aside towards the erosion project last
year had to go to the pump project. So now we're asking this year for money for the erosion project. Um Angela did get a quote in spring of 2025. Now it is since then eroded some more and costs have gone up. So we're kind of padding for that. Um I did like a 10% increase on
the numbers we got before and then a little bit more to account for maybe additional erosion that we might see there. So um you know on the high end we're asking for 250. So 240 roughly cuz 10 exists for our final cover maintenance already in that budget. Um
so we're asking for 250. I think, you know, we could get it done for maybe 225, but I'm always worried about things coming up that are not accounted for cuz that always happens down there. >> Unanticipated. >> Yeah. So, that's why the numbers look a little different there. I did I know in
the mayor's request it says 250, but in the written it says 225. So, we could play with those numbers a bit. Um, and there may be some grant money. um I know with Keller Partners, but he wanted to have some further conversations with the mayor prior to, you know, committing any
grant money to this project. So, I'm not sure where that landed with the mayor's office, but um so that's a big one. That is definitely a big ask. Um everything else here in our landfill is pretty level funding. Um the CEC, they're the
people that monitor the cap landfill for us, the engineers. Um they estimated about 80,000 for the year. We did a in our wish list, we did a little bit of a buffer there because again like even with the pump project that we have going on currently, we had to increase our CEC contract by about [clears throat] $15,000 just because they're down there
now overseeing things that they weren't typically overseeing like in the past cuz they're part of this whole, you know, they help us monitor, make sure everything's done right. They know what they're doing down there. It's a big project. So, um, we did a little buffer there. And then as far as like our solid waste, everything's contract. So, it's
up 3% every year. we've allotted for that here. Um, so we have a lot of contractual responsibilities where we can't really play with things too much. Um, and then the main asks are just like I said, things for maintenance, things that have to be done. As far as the erosion, we have to do it. D is is been
out multiple times. Um, they could potentially I mean, we're trying to show that we're working with them in good faith effort. They do understand we had the pump issue um that kind of took precedent but they need to see some movement and action there or they could issue us daily acrewing fines worst case
scenario and we don't want that. So >> absolutely not. >> Any questions? >> Thank you for presentation. >> Um the question um let's see >> um what is the percentage of um funding
that's dependent on grants in the budget? >> Um the only grant we're really getting currently like annually is our recycling grant. Um, so we do like a big RDP recycling survey every year. Um, this year I believe we got $9,900.
Um, and we you were able to use that for things recycling related. So, um, we can buy like right now we're kind of due for a shipment of totters at the landfill. You know, as we we provide the residents trash to, recycling totters, we can use that recycling money to purchase recycling totters and pay for the
shipment. Um, we can't use it to purchase um trash totters. That has to come out of our solid waste budget. So, um that's where we typically um direct those funds, but that's about it for for current grants that we get. Great. >> Um are there any opportunities for regional public health partnerships to
reduce any cost? >> Yeah, we do have um the Monatusa Public Health Network. Um we work very closely with them. We had, you know, a meeting this week. Um they do they can provide some services. A lot of what they do is they'll have an inspector that can help
us with inspectional services. Um, we are fully staffed with inspectors, so we're good there for the most part. You know, like for example, if nobody on our team was a licensed soil evaluator, we could have them come out and help us with Title 5, but we are we have licensed soil evaluators in our team.
Um, we work really closely with the epidemiologist with MPHN. So, she does all our like communicable disease tracking um and monitoring and whatnot. And we meet with them quarterly as well. And they're very responsive. Anything we need, they're here to help. um they're
they do free clinics um in Lemonster and they're going to start promoting that we can invite garden residents and stuff. So, it's definitely a a regional effort in that sense. >> Last question actually was um you were talking about the um cost of keeping up
with u meepa uh and erosion at the solid waste landfill and other also issues at the sludge landfill. Um is there a is there this is more this is more of a question for [clears throat] next fiscal year the year after about a plan for um
maintenance of the the current sledge landfall being capped and these kinds of preventing these kinds of issues. >> So the sledge landfall is completely out of my purview. It is yeah DPW and water department and and honestly um I don't
meet any other health departments that oversee their cap landfill. I am a rarity. So that's usually DPW. Um thank you. >> And uh I don't know how I got that gem uh in the health department here in Gardner, but it's happened. So we handle it best we can, but yeah, typically you
would see the DPW oversee the the landfill and the sludge fill as well. >> Mhm. >> I don't know any further questions. >> Thank you. Said way too much. >> I he could I was usually your voice, you
know. I know. I know. I know. She helped me out last time. >> I promised I would support only. >> Thank you guys. >> With that being said, first off, uh just a final comment from me. I want to thank everybody for the time uh that you took here today and and what you put before
us um as the rationale as to what in the why behind the budgets and um so thank you for that. But uh with that being said, any other further comments? >> No, I appreciate all the details you all put into your budgets to help everyone understand.
>> All right, I see a motion to adjourn. So second motion. All those in favor? Hi. >> Thank you, Mr.